Personal information

We regard the privacy of our users as very important and any personal information which you provide to us will be dealt with in accordance with our terms and conditions. This includes information you give us when using our telephone the Money Advice Line, face-to-face appointment service and this website including the ‘web-chat’ facility.

Any personal information you provide to us will be treated in accordance with applicable data protection law, including (when implemented) the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (“GDPR”), any implementation of GDPR into UK domestic law and any amendments to applicable data protection law.

We will not try to sell you anything and you will not receive unsolicited telephone calls or mail from us or any third parties as a result of personal data being provided to us.

What personal information do we collect?

Your name and contact information (including e-mail address) and any other contact details you provide to us when you submit a query via this website

Information you provide if you report a problem with this website

Records of any correspondence when you contact us, and

Details of your visits to the website including information about your online activity on the website, such as the web pages you visit, the links you click, and the searches you conduct on the website.

What will we do with your personal information?

How we use your personal data depends upon whether the data is being automatically generated, or whether you have given consent to be contacted by us. By using this website and submitting your information to us, you agree to us using your personal information in accordance with these terms and conditions. We will not use your personal information for any other purposes.

We use aggregated automatically generated non-personal user data to improve our service. For example, we analyse automatically generated information to assess matters such as where in the country users come from, what type of questions users are asking, which part of the website they have visited and whether we were able to give them information that was useful. We also use automatically generated data (by cookies) to ensure that the information we send to that user’s web-browser is relevant to that user’s needs.

In the event that you correspond with us, we may use your personal information to reply to any correspondence you have sent us, for quality, training and evaluation purposes, to help us monitor and improve the Money Advice Service, to provide the services you have requested (such as an order for printed publications) or to provide you with information concerning money matters that are relevant to your circumstances. By corresponding with us, you agree to us using your personal information in these ways. We will not use your personal information for any other purposes.

At times, we also want to hear users’ views on the Money Advice Service and any improvements they might suggest and we commission independent research agencies to ascertain user’s reactions and opinions. If you consent to be contacted to provide your opinions on your experience with the Money Advice Service we will pass on your contact details to a research agency who will get in touch with you to see if you would like to engage in further research. Neither we nor our appointed agency will try to sell you anything.

If we would like to use your personal information for any other purpose than those stated above, we will contact you to ask for your consent before doing so.

Cookies

Please refer to Cookie guide for more information on the cookies that we use on this website.

Who will see your information?

If you talk to us face to face, via web-chat or on the phone

All personal information that you provide to us will be fully protected in accordance with the GDPR and Data Protection Act 1998 and will be held confidentially. The only people with access to it will be those initially providing the advice and information to you and those involved in providing, evaluating or managing the Money Advice Service.

If you use the Money Advice Service website

If you requested printed material (such as a Money Advice Service guide or the Parent’s guide to money), we may use third parties to fulfil such requests and will pass your information to them for this purpose only. They will not pass your information on to anyone else or use it for any other purpose.

We may pass on your personal information if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal information in order to comply with any legal obligation or in order to enforce or apply our website terms and conditions or for the purposes of the prevention or detection of a crime.

How do we protect your personal information?

We make every effort (through appropriate physical, organisational and technological measures) to ensure that your personal information is held securely and to safeguard against unauthorised access to your personal information. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We strive to protect your personal information after we have received it, however you acknowledge that the privacy of your communications and personal information can never be completely guaranteed when it is being transmitted.

Amending or requesting a copy of your personal information

Please notify us by email to enquiries@moneyadviceservice.org.uk if you have provided us with personal information and you do not wish it to be used as described below, you believe that the information we hold about you is incorrect or if you wish to see which information we hold about you as a result of your contact with us.

To make a formal Subject Access Request (SAR) please complete the SAR Form available on the Contact Us page of our website, or alternatively please download and complete a copy of the SAR Form which can be submitted via email SAR@moneyadviceservice.org.ukor post.